(The Center Square) – North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum officially announced his bid for the Republican nomination for president on Wednesday, saying he will focus on the economy, energy and national security.
The two-term governor did not mention his competitors but centered his speech in Fargo on President Joe Biden and said, “he has to go.”
“The economy needs to be the absolute top priority,” Burgum said. “Every small business owner and every family in our country is feeling the corrosive hidden tax on their lives driven by the Biden-induced inflation.”
Burgum said he would focus on “innovation over regulation.”
“Regulation looks backwards, innovation looks towards the future,” Burgum said. “The Biden administration is obsessed with creating mountains of red tape.”
Energy policies in the U.S. need to change, Burgum said.
“We need to stop buying energy from our energy and start selling energy to our allies,” he said. “America produces energy cleaner and safer than anywhere else in the world. If you care about the global environment, you should be fighting to have every drop of energy produced in the United States.”
Burgum was first elected governor in 2016 and was reelected in 2020. He was a political unknown at the time. Burgum started a software company in the 1980s that he sold to Microsoft in 2001. Five years later, he started a real estate development firm and, later, a venture capital firm.
The governor cited his upbringing in the small town of Arthur, where his family operated a grain elevator, as an example of what he hoped the country would be.
“Small town values are at the core of America and frankly, big cities could use more ideas and more values from small towns right now,” he said.
Burgum enters a crowded field for the Republican nomination, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice-President Mike Pence formally announced their intentions to run for president. Also vying for the job are radio host and commentator Larry Elder, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
